You searched for: “aleuromancy
aleuromancy
Divination of meal or flour; predictions written on paper and baked in cakes or cookies; such as, “Chinese fortune cookies” [said to be an American invention, not Chinese] which are a form of this type of mancy.

The ancient Greeks wrote sentences on pieces of paper rolled up in balls of flour. The balls were mixed up nine times and distributed to those who wanted to know their future. Appollo was supposed to have presided over this form of divination.

This system has survived in the custom of baking a coin or ring in a large cake, which is then divided among guests, one of whom is lucky and finds the gift.

This entry is located in the following units: aleuro-, aleur- + (page 1) -mancy, -mancer, -mantic, -mantical (page 1)